Many of the complex tasks to be performed by robots, or robot-like equipments in assembly operations, require a delicate interaction between a hand, or other moving member, and an object, often in a poorly structured environment. For such tasks, the identification of precise functions to be carried out by a robot is often extremely difficult to anticipate and program. This creates the necessity of having a robot capable of automatically carrying out local tasks involving self-adaptation to environmental conditions and uncertainties, i.e., creates the necessity of robot local autonomy.
It is believed that a "smart hand" integrated with various sensors can play a major role in accomplishing robot local autonomy. Their possible roles include the automatic scanning, centering, approaching, collision detection and avoidance, tracking, grasping, compliance and force control, and even local manipulation of an object. To accomplish these roles, a "smart hand" must depend heavily on the capability of accurately sensing local informations. Such sensing involves an active search to collect information necessary to, e.g., identify the global shape of an object, which often plays a significant role in simply recognizing the object.